Checkmate
by Fighter not a lover
Summary: Duo and Heero play chess, with surprising results. (Shounen ai)
1. Battle

A/N: You know the drill by now. None of 'em are mine, not even Duo. Slight shounen ai, 1+2, heavily implied 3+4. And R&R if you wish to live, puny mortal (in the nicest possible way).  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 1: Battle  
  
I was playing chess, and winning. As usual. The chess computer I was playing on was Quatre's, but he couldn't play chess to save his life and had said that we could all use it as long as we let him teach us to play Mousetrap (now one of my favourite board games). The computer beeped and moved its pawn away from my bishop. I grinned, taking the pawn and checkmating the computer for the eighteenth time that day.  
  
What can I say? I'm just damn good.  
  
"You want to actually play against a real person?" I looked up. Standing in the doorway with that ever-present glare on his face was Heero.   
  
"What, you? I think you're kinda stretching the definition of 'real person' there."   
  
"Hilarious." He didn't seem to be laughing, however. I have yet to see Heero laugh, but I bet that when he does it's scary.  
  
"I didn't know you played chess." I said, more for the sake of having something to say than out of interest.   
  
"There's a lot you don't know. Why do you think I call you the baka?" I still have no idea what 'baka' means, but that's not usually the kind of thing you tell Mr Perfect Soldier. He'd only hit me for being unmitigatedly dumb.  
  
"You sure you want to play?" I asked, changing the subject before he changed his mind. It was gonna be fun to finally kick his ass at something, even if it was only chess. He nodded and sat down opposite me. I started setting up the pieces. "You're black, 'K?" He nodded again. Suddenly I had an idea and grinned evilly.  
  
"What's funny, Maxwell?" He was still completely poker-faced.  
  
I sniggered. "I've got an idea."  
  
"If this is gonna turn out anything like the Noodle Incident, I'm leaving."   
  
"Nope, this is nothing like the Noodle Incident. That was an accident, anyway."  
  
"So what's this great new idea, then?" Sometimes I wish Heero had never found out what sarcasm is.  
  
"Let's make this more interesting." I said, still grinning. "Winner takes all."  
  
He looked a little confused. "All what?"  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Roughly translated, loser has to do anything the winner says for 24 hours. Duh."  
  
I hadn't actually been expecting him to agree without a bit more whining, but he nodded slowly. "OK. Anything within reason, though. I'm not gonna endanger future missions for the sake of a stupid game." I thought about reminding him that he didn't have to play, but didn't because he might take it seriously and I wanted to see just how good he was. Also, I was beginning to think of stuff I could tell him to do when I won. I was wondering whether I could get away with having him Silly-String Wing Zero when he snapped: "Are you gonna play or what?"  
  
"OK, OK. Geez." I moved a pawn forward. The game was on.  
  
[Three and a half hours later]  
  
Heero glared at me over the board. I'd been surprised at how good he was - normally even at the highest level my games against the chess computer only tended to take an hour, and I invariably won. I looked down at the board, contemplating my next move. If I played this right, I realised, I could checkmate him in another couple of moves.  
  
"Hurry up, Maxwell." I stuck my tongue out at him and moved a castle a couple of spaces forward. He stared intently at the board for a while, then slowly a humourless, shark-like smile began to spread over his face. He moved his queen right into the path of my one remaining bishop. I looked up in surprise.  
  
"You trying to lose or what?" I've seen some idiot moves before (hell, even made some in my time), but surely he knew that losing your queen is losing a huge tactical advantage?  
  
"Just move, baka." He glared at me again, which I seriously preferred to the smile. I looked down at the board again, deciding that he just didn't want to admit to making such a huge mistake, and moved the bishop. Hell, is it my fault he'd given me the chance?  
  
As I flicked his queen off the board, he smirked evilly. "Great move, Maxwell." He picked up a castle and moved it just one space forward. "Checkmate."  
  
"Huh?!" I stared in horror at the board. He was kidding, right? I could - wait, no I couldn't, his pawn was in the way. But surely - nope, no white pieces were threatening the castle's space. I swear my jaw dropped. It really was checkmate. "How the hell'd you do that?"  
  
He leaned back in his chair, still smirking. "It's a little trick I picked up called 'being good at chess'."  
  
I slumped defeatedly. "OK, you win. 24 hours and counting." He was gonna make me Silly-String Deathscythe, I knew it. He still hadn't forgiven me for the Noodle Incident (which really does deserve the capital letters, trust me).  
  
He said nothing for a minute, obviously thinking. Any minute now, I thought, the phrase 'Silly-String' is gonna pop into his head. Or maybe he'll make me paint Deathscythe pink. Maybe he'll make me paint Wing Zero pink to remind him of Relena... maybe not.   
  
...Eep! A sudden, terrifying new thought. What if he made me tidy my half of the room we shared? I'd been carefully accumulating junk all over the floor and furniture for ages, and I'd almost emptied all my cupboards. If I had to put all my stuff away, I wouldn't be able to find anything and weeks of hard work would be wasted. He couldn't be so cruel, could he? Oh yeah, so he could. Sometimes the whole Perfect Soldier thing gets kinda scary.  
  
"Uh, hello? Maxwell? You're wasting my time here." Oops, I'd been so busy panicking that I hadn't heard him (the first seven times).   
  
"So what d'you want me to do, then?" Another terrifying thought - no wonder I have nightmares with an imagination like this. "And before you ask, there's no way I'm gonna cut off my brai-"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Well, that was a start. If that was all I was gonna have to do then, hell, I could handle that. Probably. For five minutes, anyway. Well, three. On a good day.  
  
"Stand up." I stood up, my imagination working overtime. He probably wouldn't shoot me, well, not fatally. What else do you need someone to stand up for? He wasn't really gonna cut off my braid - I hoped. What about - shut up. I was scaring myself again, the main drawback of a morbid and graphic imagination. Heero stood as well, and if I wasn't mistaken he was almost smiling. This couldn't be good. I wasn't shaking, but only because of self-control I didn't know I had.  
  
"Close your eyes." I took a deep breath and complied. This was it, then. Whatever 'this' was. I really wished he'd either get a damn move on or let me open my eyes because any minute I was gonna lose control and start shaking. Before then I hadn't realised that I'm actually slightly scared of Heero. Dammit, couldn't he hurry up? On the other hand, he was probably doing this just to make me sweat. If he was, he was succeeding.   
  
"Hurry up, Yuy. I can't take the pressure." When in doubt, make a joke of the situation.  
  
"I thought I told you to shut up." He had, but if I didn't say something I was gonna have a nervous breakdown or something. I tried to take my mind off the situation and think happy thoughts before I really did go nuts and scream or something. Annoying Wufei... playing Mousetrap with Quatre... winning Trowa's last Poptart in a poker game... listening to Green Day with the volume turned up to full blast...   
  
My train of thought was stopped abruptly when a pair of strong hands gripped my arms, pinning them to my sides, and a moment later warm, soft lips were pressed gently onto mine. I stiffened and my eyes shot open. This had to be a joke, right? Any minute he was gonna break away and laugh or something. Or maybe I'd finally gone nuts, and I was just hallucinating about Heero... kissing... me, or I was dreaming, or drunk. Could I remember anything about any kind of strange-looking mushrooms?   
  
Well, if it was a hallucination it was a damn realistic one. And I had to say, Heero (even if he was a figment of my imagination) was a better kisser than I'd thought - not that I'd thought about kissing Heero at all, because that would mean I had a crush on him and I didn't. At all. Whatever Quatre says.  
  
Heero pulled away, still clutching my arms and breathing a touch more quickly. I stared at him, wide-eyed. "What the hell was that?"  
  
He smirked slightly. "If you don't know that by now, Maxwell, there's no hope for you."   
  
"But... why?"  
  
He kept smirking. "Why d'you think?"  
  
"I don't know, I mean I thought - I thought you and Relena-"  
  
"That bimbo?" he sneered. "Don't make me laugh."  
  
"I - I kind of thought that was kind of impossible. I've been trying for ages but I thought it was, like, physically impossible for the P-Perfect Soldier to raise a smile let alone a laugh-" He was looking at me strangely and it was scaring me a bit- "and, and I always sort of thought that 'cause Relena's all over you, like, all the time and you haven't shot her yet, that's gotta mean something, right? And what you just did, that was kinda scary 'cause I still have no idea why you did it and like I said I thought you and Relena were dating and you're always threatening to kill me or whatever and I - I didn't think WOULD YOU QUIT LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT??"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Uh, like you just were. With that weird expression. Um, I can't describe it. Sort of... when your face goes all... um." I babbled, getting more flustered by the minute. He was still looking at me strangely, half-smiling and half... something else. It looked like a mixture between confusion and what I could almost describe as anger or frustration. At me? At himself? I didn't know, but hoped like hell it wasn't at me. I've had Heero's bad moods directed at me before. "Um, Heero?"  
  
No response. He just kept looking at me with those penetrating cobalt eyes. "Yeah, that sorta expression. Uh, like I said, d'you think you could knock it off? You're freakin' me out here." I tried to back away from him, but I'd forgotten that he was still gripping my arms and I got nowhere.   
  
"Why-" Heero began, but was interrupted by Quatre's voice from downstairs.  
  
"Duo! It's your turn to help me with dinner, remember? You're not gonna get out of it this time, so don't make me have to come up there and cry!" Quatre crying is a serious threat, not least because Trowa has deeply buried violent tendencies which come out on whoever upset Quatre.  
  
"OK, I'll be there in a second." I called, turning back to Heero. "Uh, could you let go? 'Cause I sorta, um, have to go help Quatre."  
  
He let go almost reluctantly and I turned to leave, more than a little relieved to get away. I was just about to open the door when he spoke again, quietly and hesitantly. "Wait." I looked over my shoulder. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, then muttered "Never mind. Go help Winner before he cries."  
  
I nodded and reached for the door. "Bye, Heero." No response - I hadn't really expected one. I closed the door behind me and went to annoy - sorry, help - Quatre.   
  
~TBC 


	2. Discussion

A/N: Big thanxs 2 everyone who reviewed. You know the drill by now. None of 'em are mine, not even Duo. Slight shounen ai, 1+2, heavily implied 3+4. And R&R if you wish to live, puny mortal (in the nicest possible way). PS: I had to put this up PDQ for fear of the raft of Dark Crystal's staff.   
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 2: Discussion  
  
"There you are, Duo!" Quatre cried as I walked into the kitchen. "I thought maybe you'd got lost between wherever you were and here."  
  
"Shaddap, Winner." I growled. I wasn't in the mood for banter. Quatre's eyes widened in surprise and Trowa, standing behind him, glared at me with his one visible eye.   
  
"Sorry." Quatre said meekly. "Are you in a bad mood or something?" I shook my head.  
  
"Not exactly. It's a long story." Not one which I was going to tell Quatre in front of anyone, not even Trowa. Trowa got the unspoken message and half-smiled.  
  
"I'm going. Gossip all you like." he said quietly, before sauntering out. Quatre turned to me, looking desparately curious, and handed me a bowl of potatoes and a knife.  
  
"Peel those, 'K? And tell me this long story."  
  
I dumped the bowl on the nearest surface, picked up a potato and began to peel it. "I was playing chess with that damn computer of yours."  
  
"And winning."   
  
I nodded and grinned faintly. "Of course. Anyway, I'd just finished winning for the eighty-third time when Heero walked in."  
  
Quatre said nothing, but I could see he was trying not to smile. "And?"  
  
"And I played chess with him. Winner, no pun intended, takes all."  
  
He looked as confused as Heero had. "All what?"  
  
"That's exactly what Heero said. Loser had to do what the winner said for 24 hours. I thought it was gonna be a breeze."  
  
He shook his head in mock disappointment. "You play chess with the Perfect Soldier and you think it's gonna be a breeze? You poor fool. So what's Heero told you to do that you don't like?"   
  
"You're too damn perceptive, has anyone ever told you that?"  
  
He looked down at the miscellaneous goo that he was stirring (it smelled better than it looked, thank God) and smiled as if at a private joke. "Many times. But carry on."  
  
"Before I tell you, can I just stress that I had absolutely no idea what was gonna happen? And that I had no part in it?"  
  
Quatre froze and looked up from the goo with eyes like saucers. "Is this what I think it's gonna be?"  
  
"I don't know." I stared down at the potato, grateful for the excuse to not look at Quatre. "Probably."  
  
"So tell me, then." He sounded impatient. When you've managed to get Quatre of all people to sound impatient, you know that whatever you're talking about is either fascinating or about Trowa.  
  
"He..." I kept looking at the potato, not daring to meet Quatre's eyes. "Nyergh. Um, do you have to know?"  
  
"Well, since you've told me this much it's only fair to get to the end of the story. C'mon, Duo, it can't be that bad." he said gently. I made some strange noise, which I think he took to mean 'yes it is'. And it was, goddammit. "Duo, you're a Gundam pilot. You've probably lost count of the number of people you've killed. You fight in worse battles every day than most people would hope to witness in a lifetime. Is it really that bad?" I said nothing - he knew the answer, damn him. "Just say it."  
  
"Easier said than done, but here goes." I concentrated very hard on peeling the potato, my voice barely audible. "He... kissed me."  
  
I could practically hear him grinning. "Great! Why is that a problem? I thought you liked him."  
  
"I may have the merest beginnings of a crush on him." I said stiffly. "But I don't even know whether he likes me or not, or why he did it, or what the hell else he's gonna make me do. We still have about 23 hours and 50 minutes left, dammit, what's he gonna do with all of those?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "Probably nothing too bad. It'll do you good to quit denying to yourself that you like him."  
  
I glared at him. "I was hoping for sympathy. What if he doesn't like me, anyway? What if -"  
  
He smiled slightly. "I think he's proved that he likes you already. Why else do you kiss someone?"  
  
"I don't KNOW!" I wailed, throwing a peeled potato back into the bowl and starting on another one. "If I knew that, d'you think I'd ask you?"  
  
"He likes you, I tell you."   
  
"Doesn't."  
  
"Does."  
  
"Doesn't."  
  
"Does."  
  
"Does what?" said a familiar voice behind me. Heero, sneaking up on people as usual.  
  
"Yaahh!" I jumped about six feet in the air. As I did, my hand slipped and the knife slashed straight across my palm. "Oh, shit!"  
  
Quatre was at my side in a New York minute, all concern and sympathy. "Wow, that looks bad. Get it under the tap quick." I complied, wincing as the cold water hit the wound.   
  
"Don't sneak up on me like that again, man!" I said to Heero, trying not to look at all the blood going down the drain. "I know the whole Perfect Soldier thing is hard to quit, but I could have done myself an injury there." He was wearing that strange expression again, but said nothing.  
  
"Duo, you have done yourself an injury." Quatre said mildly.  
  
"Whatever." Damn, it hurt. I hoped I wouldn't need stitches - I've never liked hospitals, and the last thing any of us needed to do was draw attention to ourselves. Quatre caught my wrist and examined the wound carefully.  
  
"It's definitely not good. I don't know whether it'll need stitches, though. What d'you think, Heero?"  
  
Heero joined Quatre, both of them staring at my hand. Me? I was looking the other way. "Hey, it won't need stitches. C'mon, dude, this is Shinigami we're talking about here. You can't sew up Death."  
  
"Shut up." Heero growled, grabbing a towel and pressing it to my hand. He turned to Quatre. "Don't know about stitches, but he'll definitely need first aid. It's probably not as bad as it looks, but still..."  
  
"I am still here, you know."   
  
Heero gave me the Famous Yuy Death-Glare [TM], which didn't faze me at all since I get it directed at me maybe eight times a day. "I told you to shut up."   
  
"Duo, go with Heero." Quatre turned to Heero. "You can sort it, can't you?"  
  
"Of course. I know where the first aid kit is."  
  
"Good. Could you ask Trowa to come in here and help me on your way out, please?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
"He means yeah." I said helpfully.  
  
"Thanks." I wasn't sure whether Quatre was talking to Heero or me, but I didn't get a chance to ask him because Heero grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the kitchen. As we went past the living room, Heero poked his head round the door and grunted something at Trowa. Trowa grunted something back (why are they so damn QUIET??) and Heero nodded and resumed walking.  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
"Said you'd had an accident and told him to go help Winner."  
  
"Oh." We went up the stairs in silence, Heero marching ahead and me trying to keep up. His grip on my wrist was getting kind of painful. When we got to our room he shoved me in, followed me and shut the door behind us.  
  
"Sit down." As I sat down on my bed (I'd covered the only chair in the room with clothes) he dragged a duffel bag from under his bed and took a large first aid kit out of it. I looked down at my hand and saw that blood was soaking through the towel, even though Heero had folded it about six times. Oh, shit. Heero glanced over and his eyes widened. "Oh, shit."  
  
"Thanks for that." He shot me a warning glare and walked over, holding a bottle of something, huge wads of gauze and a roll of bandages. I looked at the bottle apprehensively.   
  
"If that's rat poison..."  
  
"Shut up already. It's antiseptic."  
  
"...Oh." I seemed to have been saying that a lot recently. He sloshed antiseptic onto my hand and I winced. "That hurts."  
  
"If it didn't, I'd worry." Heero? Worry? That'll be the day. He pressed a wad of gauze to my hand and started to bandage it, alternately glaring at me and doing that funny expression. I was too distracted by the small matter of having inadvertently sliced through a few veins to be freaked out. When he'd finished bandaging he sat down on his bed, facing me and wearing a scarily determined expression. "I want to talk to you."  
  
"Uh... OK." Oh, hell.  
  
"What happened earlier... um..." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.  
  
"Yeah, what the hell was that for, anyway? I mean, was it some kind of joke or what?"  
  
"No." He didn't seem keen to elaborate. Usually a conversation with Heero is practically a monologue. I have no idea how he and Trowa manage to communicate.   
  
"So why, then?"   
  
"Because..." He was staring at his sneakers. I stared at them too, but I couldn't see what was so interesting. "Hey, why the third degree?"  
  
"Because I want to know." Geez, he's dim sometimes.  
  
"But I don't have to tell you. Anyway, you still have 23 hours, 48 minutes and-" he looked at the clock- "40 seconds left of doing what I tell you. And I'm telling you to lay off."  
  
"But..."  
  
He gave me a warning glare. "And I've told you to shut up about fifty times already, and you haven't. I thought you never lied."  
  
"I didn't lie."  
  
"You said 24 hours. I told you to shut up and you didn't. Do the math."  
  
I thought about this, then changed the subject. "You said you wanted to talk to me."  
  
"Yeah. I wanted to say... um."  
  
"Hurry up. I have to go back and help Quatre, remember."  
  
"No you don't. You're injured."  
  
"Stop changing the subject."  
  
"Did I tell you to shut up?"  
  
In the absence of any kind of witty retort, I stuck my tongue out at him.  
  
"Anyway, I..." He groaned in frustration. "Oh, forget it. Stay here and don't move your hand unless it's absolutely necessary."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Shut. Up." he snarled.  
  
"But where are you going?"  
  
"To help Winner." He got up, walked halfway to the door, paused, walked back and stood over me with that damn strange expression on his face.  
  
"Now wha..." Before I could finish talking, he leaned over and kissed me again. I pulled away, wide-eyed, and he walked out without a backward glance. "Oh, hell, like my life's not confusing enough."  
  
~TBC 


	3. Confusion

A/N: You know the drill by now. None of 'em are mine, not even Duo. Shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4. And R&R if you wish to live, puny mortal (in the nicest possible way). Change of POV in this chapter, switching from Duo to Quatre. I was going to change the POV in every chapter, but I couldn't be bothered. Sorry this chapter took so long, blame the festive writer's block.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 3: Confusion  
  
Trowa entered the kitchen about a minute after Duo and Heero left. I looked up from the chilli I was stirring and smiled.  
  
"Hi. Did Heero send you in?"  
  
He nodded. "Uh-huh. What happened to Duo?"  
  
"He was peeling potatoes, Heero walked in and surprised him and the knife slipped."  
  
"Didn't know Duo was so edgy."  
  
"He isn't usually." I hesitated, unsure as to whether Duo would want Trowa to know. "I think... something's happened between them, and now he's slightly scared of Heero. And more edgy than usual."  
  
He nodded again. "So Duo told you and you can't tell me."  
  
"Uh... yeah." I looked up at him, slightly disbelieving. "I thought you said I was the overly perceptive one."  
  
"You are. I guess it just rubbed off onto me." He leaned over to smell the chilli. "Smells nice. What is it?"  
  
"Chilli, and of course it smells nice. I'm cooking it, aren't I?"   
  
He laughed quietly and slid his arms around my waist. "Oh, so cocky so young."  
  
"I'm not that cocky and I'm barely any younger than you." I said indignantly.  
  
"I'm not exactly a pensioner." he murmured, pulling me closer. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder.   
  
"This is why you should never help me cook. You're a distraction."   
  
"And of course you hate being distracted." he muttered, his lips almost touching my ear.   
  
"I never said that."   
  
"Good grief. Don't you two ever stop?" Trowa and I sprung apart as Heero entered the kitchen.   
  
"Hi, Heero. How's Duo?"   
  
He shrugged. "He'll live. I want to talk to you."  
  
"Guess this is my cue, then." Trowa said, turning to leave. "Later."   
  
"See you." I said. Heero grunted and, as Trowa went out, I turned to him.  
  
"So what d'you want?"  
  
"That depends on what Duo's told you."  
  
I turned back to the chilli, speaking diplomatically because I didn't know whether Duo would want Heero to know that I knew. If you see what I mean. "Duo tells me lots of stuff. He's a talkative person."  
  
Unfortunately, Heero was learning to interpret subtlety and I'm not incredibly good at being subtle anyway. "Oh, so he has."  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Don't go all diplomatic on me, Winner. This isn't a situation that calls for tact."  
  
"...OK. So what d'you want?"   
  
He looked down at his sneakers, chewing his bottom lip. "I... don't know what to do. I was kinda hoping you could help."  
  
"Oo!" I squealed happily. I love matchmaking, and Heero and Duo didn't need much setting up. "I'd love to, I think you and Duo would make a great couple, I'll do anything I can, what can I do?"  
  
He looked a little intimidated, although I can't think why. "Like I just said, I don't know what to do. I want to know what you think."  
  
"Simple enough. Talk to him."  
  
"...Talk... to... him?" Heero sounded horrified. I guess maybe it didn't sound as easy to him as it did to me.  
  
"Yeah. Tell him why you kissed him. You could apologise, maybe offer to take him to a movie or something to make up for it..." I trailed off at the sight of his face, which had gone sort of greyish.  
  
"...Apologise?"  
  
"C'mon, how hard can it be? Just think of it as another mission." He still wasn't looking too happy. "Look, the longer you leave it, the harder it'll be." I could tell I wasn't getting very far, so I tried another tactic. "Unless you're *scared*..."  
  
That got him. When in doubt, go for the pride. "Fine, I'll talk to him." He strode purposefully towards the door, got halfway, stopped and turned, looking more scared than I'd ever seen him. "But what if he doesn't like me?"  
  
"He likes you, Heero." I said confidently.  
  
"But what if?"  
  
"Trust me. He *likes* you, Heero."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Oh, geez. Look, if he says he doesn't like you you can shoot me, OK? Promise."  
  
The doorbell rang and Heero turned to go and answer it, but I caught his arm and stopped him. "No, you go talk to Duo. Now." He growled at me and stomped out. A minute later Trowa strolled in.  
  
"Wufei's back. He went to annoy Duo, I think."  
  
"Huh? But Heero's just gone to tell Duo-" I broke off when Trowa hugged me. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. We'll know something's wrong when the screaming starts."   
  
~TBC. I promise it won't take so long this time. 


	4. Confession

A/N: Yes, I know I said I'd get this up soon and I'm sorry. Blame the back-to-school blues. Apart from that, you know the drill by now: none of 'em are mine, not even Duo. Shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4, implied ?+5. Thanks to all those lovely lovely people who reviewed, please keep reviewing. I wuv you all. Heero POV for a change.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 4: Confession  
  
I took the stairs two at a time, figuring the quicker I talked to Maxwell the quicker "Oprah" Winner would get off my back. This whole humanity thing can seriously get on my nerves. As I approached the door of our room, trying to suppress the butterflies in my stomach, I started to wonder whether maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Why would he like *me* for crying out loud? I mean, Duo's so cheerful and friendly and *human* and I'm so... not.  
  
Oh, hell. I just called him Duo. I must really be obssessive.  
  
I shoved the door open before I could completely chicken out. "Maxwell, I..." I froze. Sitting on my bed, glaring at D - uh, Maxwell, was Chang.  
  
"Oh, hi Heero! Wu-man's back, you may have noticed, he's been shackin' up with some mystery blond. Oh, and doing a mission. Sorta in his spare time, as it were."  
  
Chang scowled murderously. "Kisama, Maxwell..."  
  
"Oh, sorry. *Wufei's* back, Heero." He turned to Chang. "Sorry 'bout that, it just sorta... slipped out..." He trailed off as Chang did a fairly effective imitation of the Yuy Death Glare.  
  
"Maxwell, I didn't mention any blond at all. You're just talking out of your ass, as usual."  
  
"I resent that. OK, Wu's been shackin' up with a mystery person who he won't tell me anything about, not even their hair colour."   
  
Chang hid his face in his hands. "You're irrepressible. Why the hell would I tell you anything about what I do in my free time?"   
  
"Oh, so there *was* something going on! Who was it? Anyone we know?"  
  
"You seriously think I'd tell you?"   
  
Duo ignored him. "I wanna know! Male or female? Are they cute? Hey, I bet it's that Sally chick, isn't it?"  
  
"No. Shut up."  
  
"OK, so it's not Sally, that's one name off the list."  
  
"Leaving only several million other people in the world." I said dryly.  
  
"Well, there's some we can cut out automatically. Me, you, Quatre, Trowa..."  
  
"Shut *up*, Maxwell." Wufei growled. Duo ignored him as usual.  
  
"The doctors, anyone Wuffy doesn't know. Hey, I bet it's... Releeeeeeeeena!"  
  
Chang let loose with a stream of curses. I raised an eyebrow at Duo. "That's not even funny."  
  
"OK, so it's not Releeeeeena. No-one in OZ, 'cause that would be just too West Side Story. Hey, I bet it's a guy 'cause Wuffles hates girls." [1]   
  
"Shut UP." It was becoming a mantra, albeit an unsuccessful mantra. Duo grinned and bounced up and down on his bed.  
  
"Aha, so it *is* a guy. Anyone we know? C'mon, Waffle, don't leave me in suspense here."  
  
Chang's voice was like cracking ice. [2] "Waffle??"  
  
"Uh... I mean Wufei."  
  
"I'm going. You talk to him, Yuy, if you can get a word in edgeways. That accident hasn't shut him up any. Bye."  
  
"Bye, Casablanca!"  
  
"I think you mean Casanova. Bye, Chang."  
  
Duo turned to me as Chang walked out. "So whaddaya want?"  
  
"Casablanca's a place."  
  
"That's *it*? You came here to correct my pop culture references? I feel so loved."  
  
"That's not it." I got up and shut the door. "Look, Maxwell, I guess I owe you an apology."  
  
His jaw dropped. "YOU owe me an APOLOGY?? Geez, Yuy, didja get hit on the head or something? Oh, wait, is it April Fools' Day? Hah, nearly had me then. I thought you were *really* goin' to apologise for something, though I can't think what. Yeah, right." He was talking more to himself than me. "Like *you'd* apologise for anything."  
  
"I wasn't kidding." He looked up, violet eyes wide with surprise. "I'm... sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. Um..." OK, here goes. The big speech. "Uh, I -"  
  
"Sorry if you scared me when? 'Cause if you mean in the kitchen -" he held up his bandaged hand to remind me, as if I'd forgotten over the last seven minutes - "Don't bother, 'cause you were just being normal, well, normal for you and I was kind of edgy and anyone with half a brain cell wouldn't have been peeling potatoes towards their hand anyway and since when do you eat potatoes with chilli anyway and you didn't mean you were sorry for that."  
  
"No."  
  
"So what is it then? C'mon, make with the words. I won't interrupt once, promise, though it'll be a struggle. D'you want to sit down, that might make it easier to tell me, OK, out with it."  
  
I sat on my bed, facing him. "Shut *up*. I was talking about the chess game earlier. More specifically, what I did after it."  
  
"Oh, you mean when you beat me at chess and scared me half to death and kissed me and then wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked you why and then scared me half to death again and made me slice my hand though that wasn't your fault really and then kissed me again and basically just confused the hell outta me? Yeah, I guess that kinda deserves an apology. Especially since I've been beating myself up ever since trying to figure out what the hell you thought you were doing and why."  
  
That boy really knows how to lay on the guilt. "I thought you said you wouldn't interrupt."  
  
"Just clarifying what you meant." he said with an angelic smile that he'd copied from Winner. I sighed.   
  
"Yes, that's what I meant. I'm sorry about all of that, OK?"  
  
"That's it?" he pouted. "No explanation? No free food as a peace offering?"  
  
"I don't *have* any food." I growled. "And, and wouldyouliketogotoamovietomakeupforit?" Smooth. Really smooth. The first time I ask Duo Maxwell on a date (well, sort of a date, but that doesn't make it any less humiliating) and I gabble like that Peacecraft bitch on steroids. Duo didn't seem to have any problems understanding me, though - I guess he talks like that anyway half the time.  
  
"Sure - on two conditions."  
  
"What?" I grunted, trying not to show fear.  
  
"One, you buy popcorn." There goes my next three months' pay. Duo eats enough popcorn to keep three film food manufacturers in business for a year.  
  
"OK. What's the other?"  
  
"I want an explanation, and I mean it this time."  
  
"OK, fine." I took a deep breath, reminded myself that Perfect Soldiers don't get butterflies and told him. "I like you, Duo."  
  
He smiled slightly. "Thanks. Uh, I like you too." There was a pause. "Quatre's gonna be *so* smug when he finds out."  
  
"Who cares?" I smirked, leaning towards him. Our lips were maybe a centimetre apart when there was a yell from downstairs: Chang, taking out all that excess stress.  
  
"MAXWELL! YUY! DINNER! NOW!"  
  
~TBC, probably sooner than you think. I mean it this time.  
  
[1] So I borrowed this. Wuffles, for anyone who doesn't know, is the name of the Patrician's dog in the 'Discworld' series.  
[2] I borrowed this, too. The '...voice like cracking ice' description is originally from some Biggles book, if anyone knows which one then please let me know. 


	5. Humiliation

A/N: Blah, blah, GW ain't mine, shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4, implied ?+5, thanks to all those lovely lovely people who reviewed, please keep reviewing. I wuv you all (it's the espresso talking, honest). Wufei POV.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 5: Humiliation  
  
I ask you. Take one stupid mission, leave the others alone for a *week* and they all go nuts. First I got back and went to talk to Maxwell, figuring the injured invalid would need cheering up, and he launched into a full investigation into my private life. Then I escaped that indignity, only to walk in on Winner and Barton committing obscene acts (kissing) and burning the chilli. And when we finally sat down to dinner, I ended up stuck between Yuy and Maxwell the lovestruck morons. Do they honestly think no-one notices the way they look at each other?  
  
"Damn! Quat, how long were you cookin' this shit for? A week?" Maxwell wailed after swallowing half the bowl of chilli. Winner looked sheepish (i.e., more like a sheep than usual).  
  
"Uh, I got kinda sidetracked."  
  
"Ohhh." Maxwell nodded understandingly and glanced at Barton. "Ne, Trowa, d'you think maybe you could save it for after we've eaten next time? Q-man's the only one of us who can actually cook, so if he gets sidetracked we're all screwed."  
  
Barton went deep crimson. "Shut up, Duo."  
  
"Is that like phrase of the friggin' day or something?" Maxwell whined. "Doesn't anyone have anything better to do than tell me to shut up? And if that's you playing footsie, Tro, you're missing. Quat's over there."  
  
"Shut. Up. Duo." Barton mumbled, going purple.  
  
"See what I mean? It's like a broken friggin' record!"  
  
"Maybe you should just shut up, Maxwell." I suggested. Maxwell looked horrified.  
  
"What, and deprive you of my wisdom? Shit, Wu-man, I wouldn't do that to you."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"Nah..." Maxwell inhaled the other half of his chilli and turned to me with an evil grin. "So, Wuffy, tell us about this mystery guy."  
  
"I never even *said* it was a guy." I growled.   
  
"Yeah, but you hate chicks an' all, so..."  
  
"Shut the hell up before I'm forced to break your legs."  
  
"Oh, so I'm right then?" Maxwell grinned. "Hah, told you the Waffle had hidden depths. C'mon, who is it? You can tell us, it's good to share stuff like this and the rest of us are all open with *you*, you know if I started dating someone you guys would be the first to know... you OK, Heero?" Yuy seemed to be choking on his food. "Sheeyit, Quat, be more careful next time you're cooking! Heero coulda choked to death on this crap, not that it's affected me but I'll eat *anything*-" he broke off as Yuy launched into a second coughing fit. "Heero, just stop eating it if it makes you choke! Right, guys, I vote we just ban Trowa from the kitchen if this is the effect he has on our food. Heero could be seriously ill, maybe I should do the Heimlich."  
  
"Maybe not." I said dryly as Yuy's choking intensified. "The last time you tried doing the Heimlich it took Barton six days to recover."  
  
"Huh. You people just don't appreciate me."  
  
"Nope!" I said cheerfully at the same time as Winner cried: "Of course we do!"  
  
"You just have no soul, Fluffy."  
  
"Fluffy?!" I squawked, outraged.  
  
"Yep, Fluffy Wuffy."  
  
Yuy, who had finally stopped choking, caught my shoulder just in time to stop me lunging at Maxwell. "Shut *up*, Maxwell."  
  
And you know what the miracle was? He actually shut up. Didn't look too happy about it, mind you, but he did stop speaking. I could feel my headache disappearing.  
  
"How'd the mission go, Wufei?" Winner asked timidly after a few minute's welcome silence. I shrugged.  
  
"Same old, same old. Everything according to plan, got all the information we needed and then some."  
  
"What, you mean nothing went wrong?" Barton asked incredulously. "Hell, it seems like every time one of us tries something on OZ something doesn't go by the plan. You actually did exactly what you planned?"  
  
"...Almost. There was some... unanticipated distraction, but nothing to worry about." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Maxwell looking like he was about to explode with the effort of staying quiet. "And I don't mean distraction like you were thinking, Maxwell."  
  
"Sounds almost too easy." Yuy muttered, frowning. "You're sure it wasn't a trap?"  
  
"Dammit, Yuy, it was just a routine hit!" Sometimes his paranoia really pisses me off.  
  
"Routine hits are usually the ones which go wrong. People get..." he paused and glared at Maxwell, who had opened his mouth to say something. Maxwell took one look at him and closed his mouth with a snap. "...cocky."  
  
"Look, it went fine, OK? Nothing went wrong and I got more info than we even need. Why can't you just accept we got lucky?"  
  
"You sure got... mmf." Yuy clamped a hand over Maxwell's mouth and gave him the full benefit of the Famous Yuy Death Glare.  
  
"Shut up, baka. Or else." Maxwell pantomimed that he would now shut up and be angelic just like Winner, or something, and Yuy cautiously removed his hand.  
  
"Thanks, Heero!" Maxwell squeaked happily. Yuy groaned and smacked his head on the table.  
  
"So who wants dessert?" Winner said brightly. Maxwell grinned from ear to ear, but another Yuy Death Glare stopped him commenting.  
  
"Just a minute." I growled. "What *is* dessert? If you've made as much of a cock-up of that as you did of dinner, I think I'll pass."  
  
"It's ice cream."  
  
Not even Quatre Winner, Blond Extraordinaire, can screw up ice cream. "OK." Winner disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared seconds later clutching a huge tub of ice cream, five spoons and five bowls. Before he could put any of it down Yuy was on his feet, snatching the ice cream from his hands.  
  
"Gee, Heero, I know you like ice cream, but there are four other people here." Winner sounded shocked.  
  
"Winner -" Yuy's voice had dropped by several hundred degrees. "Why the hell did you get avocado and banana ice cream?"  
  
Winner blushed. "Um..."  
  
"Bet I can guess." I drawled. "Did Barton possibly go shopping with you?"  
  
"*Cough, cough* Eh, possibly."  
  
Maxwell leapt up, scandalised. "You mean you... in a *store*?? You *have* to be kidding, geez, and I thought *I* was... what the hell did the other customers think? Eew... did you get kicked out? I don't think I'll ever go to *that* store again. To think *you* and *Trowa*... urgh... can't you two, like, hold it in for *ten minutes*?" He paused, presumably for breath, and looked round to see the rest of us looking at him with various degrees of horror, embarrassment, disbelief and of course the Yuy Death Glare (again). "What?"  
  
After a brief moment of horrified silence, Yuy darted forward and grabbed Maxwell's wrist. "I think I'll pass on the ice cream. Maxwell and I have to have a discussion on the subject of what not to talk loudly about at mealtimes."  
  
"Anything at all?" I guessed. Yuy half-smirked.  
  
"Close."   
  
~TBC 


	6. Blather

A/N: Blah, blah, GW ain't mine, shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4, implied ?+5 (to all those who asked if it was Treize or Zechs: maybe, maybe not. Wait and see), thanks to all those lovely lovely people who reviewed, please keep reviewing. I wuv you all (it's the espresso talking, honest). Duo POV.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 6: Blather  
  
"Just what the hell did you think you were doing?" Heero yelled after dragging me upstairs.  
  
"Talking. Duh."  
  
"About *that*? You know that wasn't what he meant..."  
  
"It wasn't?" I was genuinely surprised. "But I thought..."  
  
"You really thought he meant *that*? Yeah, right. Sure."  
  
"Heero, I mean it!" That sounded a bit too pleading for my liking. "I never lie, OK? I run, I hide, I don't lie. It's like distinguishing markings, or whatever. You know, like knowing what animals are because of their colour or something."  
  
"So the distinguishing feature of Duo Maxwell is that he never lies?"  
  
"Yeah, that and the fact that I have a huge-ass braid down to my waist. And purple eyes. And I always wear black and I have a Gundam called Deathscythe and I call myself Shinigami and I hang out with a rich-but-slightly-wimpy blond, a clown with wicked cool hair, a Chinese dude with no sense of humour and a painfully tight ponytail, and a spandex-wearing terrorist with suicidal tendencies but great taste in guys..."  
  
"Duo."  
  
"Uh-huh?"  
  
"You're babbling. Shut up."  
  
"Well, I *thought* he meant..."  
  
"OK. You thought he meant what you thought he meant. Point taken. Shut up now."  
  
I was silent for about three seconds. Then: "I didn't know it was possible to *get* avocado and banana ice cream."  
  
Heero shrugged. "Well, now you know."  
  
"So what *did* he mean then?" I know, I know, I sounded obssessed. So shoot me. Heero's always threatening to.  
  
"It's possible to get distracted by someone without actual physical contact."  
  
"Oh, like when you see someone you like and you can't stop looking at them because they're so damn hot and you can't actually concentrate on anything else and you suddenly get all clumsy but it doesn't matter because by then you're in a gibbering heap on the floor anyway and then they turn round and you feel like a stalker?"  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
Maybe I should have paused for breath somewhere in that. "Oh, right. Now I know what you mean. Well, why didn't you just *say* that?"   
  
"I don't have the lung capacity."  
  
"Oh." Another pause. "...Hey!"  
  
He smirked. "Well done."  
  
I tried an imitation of the Yuy Death Glare, but it came out looking more 'PMS puppy' than 'Omae o korosu'. "Huh. Just because I don't think 'hn' counts as a meaningful paragraph."  
  
"Just because I can't talk nonstop without a breath for ten minutes."  
  
"Just because you don't think that's something to be proud of."  
  
"Just because you *do*."  
  
"Just because you have no sense of humour."  
  
"Just because I can play chess."  
  
"Oh, you had to bring that up. Just because... uh... just because I'm prettier than you."   
  
"Yep."  
  
"Hey, that's not..." I stopped, mainly because if I didn't then I'd probably bite his tongue off. And that kind of thing can destroy a relationship.  
  
I kind of stopped thinking coherently around that point (easy enough with Heero's tongue down my throat), so the next thing I remember clearly is someone knocking at the door.  
  
"Hey, are you guys in there? Heero, you haven't shot Duo have you?" Great, thanks, Quat. Every single time I'm alone with Heero someone has to mess it up. Anyone would think it was a conspiracy.  
  
"Mmf ygnn hm..." Damn! I disentangled myself from Heero and tried again. "Uh, no, we're fine."  
  
"Are you sure?" Damn him, damn all those people who care enough to worry.  
  
"Yeah, honest. Would I lie to you?"  
  
"OK, OK. Well, I just thought I'd tell you Trowa's found some more ice cream from somewhere -" Hell, I thought, there goes tonight's midnight feast - "And it's cookies and cream. Your favourite."  
  
I KNOW it's cookies and cream, you blond fool, I bought it. "Uh... OK. We'll be there in a second."  
  
"Hurry, then, or there won't be any left. You aren't the only one who likes the stuff, you know."  
  
"All right, all right." I grumbled, turning to Heero. "Sorry 'bout this."  
  
"No problem, I know how you get about ice cream. You owe me, that's all."  
  
I snickered. "Oh, yeah?"  
  
"Yeah." He pulled me into his arms for another kiss. Just as I was starting to think that maybe ice cream didn't matter all that much (Heero tastes better anyway), the door slammed open and Wufei rushed in.  
  
"Any time *today*, Maxwe-" He stopped, and I swear I heard his jaw hit the floor. "...urk..."   
  
You know, I think I hate Wufei.  
  
~TBC  
A/N: Is 'disentangled' actually a word?? Answers on a postcard to the usual address, please. 


	7. Ice Cream

A/N: Blah, blah, GW ain't mine, shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4, implied ?+5, thanks to all those lovely lovely people who reviewed, please keep reviewing. I wuv you all (it's the espresso talking, honest). Heero POV.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 7: Ice Cream  
  
Chang's face was white, jaw practically touching the floor and eyes wider than your average bush-baby's. "Y-Y-Yuy... M-M-Maxwell... what..."  
  
I froze, unsure what to do. Duo rolled out of my arms and stood up, the very picture of righteous outrage. "Shit, Wu, don't you ever knock?? Some of us are kinda busy here, if you know what I mean, sorta ruins the mood when prudes like you come strolling in and have a schizo moment actin' like you've never seen people kissing before when you obviously *have*, you don't live long in the same house as Trowa 'n' Quatre *without* seeing people kissing, and I thought *I* was blatant, geez, anyway I bet you and your mystery guy have at least smooched let alone doin' other stuff, course you won't tell me but I'll find out sooner or later, but if you wanna come barging in at least *knock* next time, I hope you're happy that's all I'm saying, you've completely spoiled the atmosphere and if Heero beat you up it'd be your own frickin' fault but he won't, at least he won't if he knows what's good for him, not that I'm like those dumb bossy Valley Girl girlfriends like Releeeeeena or Dorothy but I just don't think he should 'cause if you were dead or in hospital or whatever then I couldn't irritate you, apart from drawing funny pictures on the cast or coffin but that's just not the *same* somehow, and anyway Heero'd probably have a go at me for screwing up the mission and we'd all have to do more work so just count yourself lucky, that's all, and *knock* next time."  
  
Duo paused for breath and Chang stared at him. "How do you *do* that?"  
  
"What, the talking thing? Oh, it's just breath control." Duo said airily. "I bet you could do it if you tried."  
  
"I doubt it."   
  
"Betcha could... hey, you mentioned ice cream."  
  
"Yeah, it's downstairs if you aren't too busy." There was a hint of sarcasm in Chang's voice.  
  
"I'm sure we can manage five minutes out of our busy schedule, right Heero?" I shrugged - personally I prefer Duo to ice cream, but for him the stuff is practically a religion. "And by the way, since you know about me and Heero now I think you should tell us about this guy you've been seein' on the side. In fact, it's probably the only *honourable* thing to do."  
  
"Yeah, like emotional blackmail is the honourable thing to do." Chang snapped.  
  
"Huh? Me? Blackmail? I didn't even *mention* blackmail, I was just *saying*... anyway, about this ice cream."  
  
"It's still downstairs, Maxwell, no-one's going to bring it up to you."  
  
"OK, last one down's a sucker!" And with that, Duo dived for the door with the speed of a bullet (believe me, I should know). Chang and I exchanged glances.  
  
"He's *your* boyfriend, Yuy, therefore he's *your* problem."  
  
I peered at him suspiciously. "You seem remarkably casual about all this."  
  
"Well, you didn't exactly keep it subtle, did you? Oh, and do you think you could plan the first date some time in the next three days? Barton and I had a bet on when you were finally gonna get it together and there's Pop-Tarts riding on this."  
  
"I'll think about it. As long as I get a percentage of the takings."  
  
"Sure. What's ten per cent of a box of Pop-Tarts?"   
  
"TEN PER CENT??"  
  
We walked downstairs haggling and finally agreed on 60-40 (which actually worked out as 60-20-20 since I would have to share with Duo). As we got to the door of the dining room, Chang stopped me.  
  
"Just one more thing. Could you, like, not do any PDAs until after the date? Please? Otherwise I'll end up doing Barton's laundry for a month."  
  
"Geez. What *else* are you people betting on?"  
  
"Well, Maxwell is running a sweepstake on how long it'll be before you finally get sick of that dumb bitch Relena and shoot her..."  
  
"I don't wanna know."  
  
"Right. But no PDAs, OK?"  
  
"What's in it for me?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
I sniggered and opened the door to be greeted by a yell from Duo, who always goes a little strange after too much ice cream. "Yo, Heero! Looks like Wu-bear's a sucker again, as if we didn't all know that already, how'd you like to place a bet on who his mystery guy is?" Good grief, I thought, this boy's turned the safehouse into a gambling den. "Hey, you'd never guess what he and Trowa were betting on..." Ignoring Chang, who was standing behind me hissing "Don't do it!" over and over, I swept Duo into my arms and kissed him.   
  
Well, hell, I got to annoy Chang *and* kiss Duo. What would you have done?  
  
"...uh... hi, Heero..." Duo said weakly when I pulled away. "...uh, interesting greeting..." It was the most lost for words that I'd ever seen him. At the table (where the impeturbable Winner was still sitting quietly eating everyone else's ice cream) Barton grinned evilly at Chang, who ignored him and gave me a dirty look.  
  
"There was no need for that, Yuy." he growled.  
  
"Hey, I disagree." Duo said.   
  
"Well, you would." Chang muttered as Duo attached himself to my waist, clinging on like a limpet.   
  
" 'Course I would, I mean this *is* Heero and disagreeing with you is what I'm good at, just like chess and fixing gundams and video games and Quatre are you eating my ice cream?"  
  
"Mmph?" Winner swallowed hastily with a guilty look. "Who, me?"  
  
"Put the spoon *down*, Quat. Go eat Wuffy's food."  
  
"Too late." Trowa said lazily. "Whose bowl do you think he made a beeline for first?"  
  
Not for the first time, I found myself wondering whether this bunch of semi-deranged ice cream addicts, plus me, were really the piloting geniuses Duo keeps saying we are. On the other hand, I couldn't be making this up. No-one has an imagination *that* warped (except Duo, but I don't *think* I'm a figment of his imagination).   
  
"Anyways, anyone know what's on at the movies?" Duo piped up, mouth full of (my) half-melted ice cream. " 'Cause me and Heero are goin' out tonight."  
  
"Which cinema?" Chang croaked, sounding more than slightly worried. There were three cinemas in the town where we were staying.  
  
"Uh, probably the Odeon, that's nearest isn't it? D'you know if they're showing 'Revenge of the Evil Living Dead Zombie Cheerleaders VI'? I *soooo* wanna see that. Nothing like a good comedy."  
  
"Yes, it's showing. No, you can't go to see it." Chang said flatly. "It's NC-17. You could barely pass for fifteen."  
  
"If this is gonna turn into another short joke, let me remind you that you aren't exactly on the tall side yourself." Duo growled. "And we have fake IDs." We do indeed all have fake IDs, partly so we can buy weapons and so on when we need them but mainly so Duo can buy beer at will. (And no, that's not what we tell the doctors: 'Hey, Dr J, I need a fake ID so I can coerce my friends into humiliating drinking games, introduce a game of strip poker, pass out and have to be carried to bed by my long-suffering buddy Heero at three in the morning.') "And why're you worried which cinema we're going to, huh? Got a hot date? Worried we'll embarrass you?"  
  
"Yeah, something like that."  
  
"Well, we won't." I said flatly. "Because we're going *now*." If you hang around Gundam pilots for long enough, you learn to see arguments coming and avoid them. And it's easy enough to spot when Chang and Duo are arguing or about to argue: their lips move.  
  
"Spoil my fun..." Duo whined as I dragged him out of the house, barely stopping to grab our jackets, and slammed the door behind us. "I don't see why you had to interrupt us, if we'd played that right maybe we'd have got a glimpse of Wufei's new squeeze and I don't know if the film's even *on* around this time I mean it's a bit early for an NC-17 film isn't it and it's not as if there'd be a matinee and..."  
  
"Shut *up*, Duo." I muttered, pinning him to the door to kiss him. (Well, do *you* see him complaining?) "We'd better go before Chang looks out of the window and has a nervous breakdown."  
  
"Uh, too late." Duo said, looking at the dining room window. Through it I could seeWinner grinning, Chang slowly turning purple (so much for Mr Laidback) and Barton raising a casual eyebrow. Duo waved. I cringed. We left.  
  
~TBC 


	8. First Date

A/N: Blah, blah, GW ain't mine, shounen ai, 1+2, 3+4, ?+5 (but you will find out in this chap, those of you who haven't guessed already - I suppose it is kinda obvious), thanks to all those lovely lovely people who reviewed, please keep reviewing. I wuv you all (it's the espresso talking, honest). Duo POV.  
  
Checkmate  
  
Chapter 8: First Date  
  
The Odeon is only a fifteen-minute walk from the safehouse so I figured we'd be there in plenty of time for the movie, but when we got there it was deserted and the doors were closed. This didn't look good.  
  
"Doesn't look very open, does it?" I hissed to Heero in a stage whisper  
  
"That's because it's not." he said, pointing to a notice on one of the doors - something about asbestos and lawsuits. For once I was at a loss for words.  
  
"Oh."  
  
It took us another hour to get to one of the other cinemas. Normally it would have taken maybe half as long, but first we had to retrace our steps and by then it was starting to get dark and I think Heero likes being alone in the dark with me. In a turn-on kind of way. In a 'we have to stop every five minutes to smooch because otherwise, and I really mean this, I will jump you' kind of way. By the time we got to the cinema I was whacked and barely had the energy to demand a huge bucket of popcorn and seats near the back (if you need to ask why, there's no point telling you). There weren't many other people in the theatre except a few groups dotted here and there and a couple of guys a few rows in front of us. The shorter half of the couple, who was sitting directly in front of me, had the world's most eye-wateringly tight ponytail and I was just thinking how much like Wufei he looked when the trailers started.  
  
Most of 'em were boring, all car and shampoo ads, so I kept myself occupied by throwing popcorn at the Wufei guy and his 'companion' (cough,cough) and snickering at all the really retarded ads. Eventually the movie started, I stopped throwing popcorn and Heero casually draped an arm over my shoulders. I sighed contentedly. Life was good.  
  
About halfway through the movie, I noticed that the Wufei guy and friend were kissing. Not that I had a problem with that (it was just what Heero and I had been doing on and off throughout the movie) but it was just coming up to a really gory part and I would hate for them to miss it. And besides, I was kind of hyper (blame the popcorn). So I threw a piece of popcorn at them. Just one. That was all. And the Wufei dude turned round and it really was Wufei. So I did the only thing I could: I dived off my seat, pulling Heero with me.  
  
"Duo, this is hardly the place or the time..." Heero murmured, propping himself up on his elbows with an amused expression.   
  
"Shut up!" I hissed, barely audibly. "Wufei's sittin' right in front of us and I threw popcorn at him and he turned round and I don't want him to know we're here."  
  
Heero rolled his eyes. "Is this because of the mystery date thing again?" I nodded vigorously. "Well, it's probably safe to get up now."  
  
"Well, I wouldn't know. You're on top." He raised an eyebrow, smirked and looked up cautiously.  
  
"It's perfectly safe. You can get up, just don't throw any more popcorn."  
  
"Geez, Heero, I would but you're kinda cramping my style here." I retorted with a shove. "Get *off*, wouldja? You're heavy!"  
  
"OK, OK." he muttered, getting up. Nothing much happened through the rest of the movie, apart from lots of death, violence and gratuitous gore (onscreen, obviously).  
  
When the movie finished, I caught sight of Wufei going into the toilets. I nudged Heero and told him I'd wait for Wufei (purely to say 'hi', of course). He rolled his eyes and leaned against a wall, folding his arms. "Sure, whatever. Just don't be all day."  
  
"Hi, Wu-dude!" I grinned as Wufei left the toilets. "So you did have your hot date then? So did we, but wouldn't you know it, goddamn Odeon's closed. Asbestos or something. 'Dja like the movie?"  
  
"Maxwell, what the *hell* are you doing here??" Wufei hissed, a note of terror in his voice.  
  
"I just told you. Hot date, Odeon closed, what can you do?"  
  
"Go somewhere *else*! Geez, of all the cinemas in all the world you had to walk into this one. Just go *away*, will you?"  
  
I pulled my best hurt expression. "Now Wufei, is that any way to treat your old friend and comrade-in-arms? All we're doing is trying to have a night out chillin', away from the Gundams, and what could be more natural than for me to go and say hi to an old friend? Especially when said friend is here with a mystery date and I wanna see who it is. He was all over you in the theatre, it was all I could do not to yell 'Get a room'."  
  
"That *was* you with the popcorn!"  
  
"Yep, yours truly. What did you have to go and turn round for? I ended up sprawled all over the floor in a *very* compromising position."  
  
"I don't usually see you complaining about being in a compromising position with Yuy."  
  
"Unnecessary and cruel, Wu-baby." I said with a mock pout.  
  
"WU-BABY???"  
  
"Yep... hey, look out. Something's wrong."  
  
"What?"   
  
I pointed over at Heero, who'd been waiting for us by the doors. He was completely ignoring us, glaring at someone else who I couldn't see because they were the other side of the ticket booth. He looked tense and I could see one hand edging slowly towards the pocket where he keeps his gun. "Shimatta!" Wufei hissed. I made a mental note to ask someone what it meant later.  
  
"Uh-oh. Trouble. You got a gun or anything, Wufei?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah, but we might not need it. This might not..."  
  
"Don't be fucking stupid." I said harshly. "You see Heero's face? We're up shit creek. C'mon."  
  
"Uh, are you sure this is such a good idea?" I ignored Wufei as always and crossed the distance between me and Heero in a few strides. Wufei trotted behind me, muttering darkly.  
  
"Duo." Heero said out of the corner of his mouth when I reached him. He sounded furious. "Where the *hell* is Chang?"  
  
"Right behind me. What's going..." No sooner were the words out of my mouth than I recognised the guy standing by the ticket booth and glaring back at Heero.   
  
Treize Khushrenada. OZ dude extraordinaire. Our *enemy*. The guy (well, one of 'em) who's tried to kill us all countless times.  
  
And now, apparently, Wufei's new boyfriend.  
  
I think I've said it before: Oh, hell, like my life's not confusing enough.  
  
~TBC  
  
A/N: *wicked cackle* Oh, it's a cliffhanger. And I don't know what's gonna happen next. How sad. I'll finish chapter 9 (oh god, I'm on chapter 9 already!) soon though, promise. Just as soon as I actually get round to *starting* it, sorta thing. 


End file.
